Like many of you, I like Sabres. OK, F-86s for some of us. Regardless of what you call them, North American's first successful USAF jet fighter has to be one of the classics. Designed back before jets became festooned with electronics and junk hanging under the wings, the Sabre was a world-class jet. Built or assembled by at least four different nations (US, Canada, Japan and Australia) the aircraft is now lovingly flown by lucky warbird owners so should stay in the skies for a goodly time to come.

This sheet is the first of two from On-Target's Profile #6 book (which I have not seen - hint), and is based on profiles given there. This sheet is for Canadair and CAC built aircraft and offers a goodly number of subjects.

First up is a Sabre F.4 of 66 Squadron in RAF Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey over PRU blue.

Second is another F.4, but this time it is the 66 Sq Commanding Officer's plane. Upper colors are the same but the underside is Silver. It has a blue nose and fin as was common for the CO's plane.

Next is an F.2 from 421 Sq, RCAF in 1954. It is in unpainted metal with a tan nose section.

An F.4 from 422 Sq RCAF is next. This 1953 aircraft is in RAF markings and seems to have been originally destined for the UK as it also has an RAF serial. The white nose and red tail planes along with the red and white unit markings make this a very colorful aircraft.

The fifth scheme is another Canadian F.4 from 414 Sq. This is in the Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey over PRU blue scheme from 1953.

The rather plain looking F.5 is the Wing Commander's plane of 1 OCU RCAF. It has an interesting set of markings under the canopy and a red stripe on the nose.

A CAC Sabre 27 of 11 Squadron, Malaysian AF is the next aircraft. It is in a Dark Green upper surface with a Blue-Grey underside.

Finally, a Pakistani Sabre 6 from the 1970s in Dark Green/Dark Grey over Medium Grey. Many of you probably know that Pakistan bought 120 F-86F-40s from the US. They also bought attrition replacements, many of which were the shorter winged Canadair Sabres.

There are a number of kits available in 1/72 for the F-86. Heller does a nice raised panel line version, Fujimi do several very nice Sabres and are really the ones to seek. Hobbycraft's Sabre kits are nearly as nice since they are based on the Fujimi kit. For those wanting to do a CAC Sabre, High Plains does a fuselage conversion.

The decals are superbly printed and while the sheet seems rather 'busy' it has all the markings you really need other than common data, which can come from the kit decals if needed. Were I to improve the sheet, I'd note for each aircraft if it had slatted or the 6-3 wing, as wings are most important for the F-86. While you can get that information by carefully studying the profile, it would be nice to have that up front.

This sheet is available in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, the 1/72 scale being the one reviewed.

March 2005

Review sample courtesy of Jon Freeman. This sheet can be found at http://homepage.mac.com/daleclarke/Aviationworkshop/ and at quality hobby shops worldwide.

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